As we introduced our BYM production of Two Caravans (which played to a packed house) we heard of another Friendly theatre group called Plain Quakers, which is going to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. PQ, as they call themselves, is a new company supported by High Flatts Quaker Meeting in West Yorkshire. Their Fringe production is On Human Folly, an 'ironic commentary' on John Woolman's travels in England. What would the radical Woolman make of Samuel Galton, the firearms manufacturer who was eventually turfed out of the Society? The actors ask some uncomfortable questions of their modern audience. Mike Casey and Arthur Pritchard, clerk of Quaker Outreach Yorkshire, take to the stage and ask: 'what did you do when you realised greed was killing the world?' Eye looks forward to this production at the Edinburgh Meeting House (Venue 40) on 18-23 August.

Labels: edinburgh, theatre, two caravans

We asked if any reader had seen the National Theatre play Fram, which includes a cameo of the Quaker international relief worker Ruth Fry. There were mixed reviews. We have heard from Grace Blaker, who felt positive about this story of polar explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, who made a bid for the north pole in 1890.
'I don't go to the theatre for the expected', Grace writes. 'I want to be surprised and this play did that. Tony Harrison's gift for power writing, bringing to life historic characters and having them grapple with issues that remain contemporary, created a play with a depth that is totally relevant today.'

Labels: theatre